Counter Terrorism Failures and Cover-Ups by the FBI and Danny Defenbaugh (OKC, 9/11)

The head of the Dallas FBI office Danny Defenbaugh was the FBI Inspector of the OKC Bomb Task Force. Today Defenbaugh accepted criticism in his role as inspector as reported in this article posted on FreeRepublic today:

“DALLAS, Mar 19, 2002 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- The FBI agent in charge of the Oklahoma City bombing investigation Tuesday accepted criticism in an inspector general's report for mishandling documents in the case that delayed Timothy McVeigh's execution.”

Defenbaugh was responding to recommendations that supervisors in the FBI be reprimanded for their handling of documents associated with the OKC Bombing case as reported in this article posted today on FreeRepublic.com:

“WASHINGTON, Mar 19, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A Justice Department investigation concludes the FBI did not intentionally withhold evidence from Timothy McVeigh's lawyers but that two supervisors should be disciplined for waiting months to disclose the belated discovery of documents in the case, according to people familiar with the findings”

In 2001 I documented Defenbaugh’s previous contradictory and conflicting statements he made to the Dallas Morning News and the Senate Judiciary Committee concerning handling of FBI documents in this article on FreeRepublic;

“The contradiction lies in Defenbaugh’s telling the Dallas Morning News he only learned of the problem “a couple of weeks ago” and yet later telling Congress that he learned of the problem in January 2001 and the seriousness of the problem by February of 2001 before telling FBI superiors months later in May 2001. Learning of this problem in January or February is much more than a couple of weeks ago.”

“And Defenbaugh’s waiting to tell superiors for months to first learn of all aspects of the problem is not justifiable on legal grounds. It also sounds like he may have wanted to take the extra time to alert superiors so he could do damage control for the FBI, come up with an alibi and possibly hide or fix some of the missing evidence and documents. “

There is also the suspicion that even now Defenbaugh is not being forthright and giving full disclosure so as to hide the truth about what he and the FBI have known about for almost seven years: withheld and/or falsified FBI documents and FBI 302 interview notes and lead sheets and surveillance tapes, FBI 302 reports for interviews with John Doe witnesses that were deliberately not written, names of suspects and witnesses which were deliberately and repeatedly misspelled so they could not be found in database searches, fingerprints that were deliberately not checked, sketches of John Does deliberately not made, and FBI 302 reports that have been written to cast doubt on original and earlier FBI 302 reports that put government foreknowledge and cover-up in a bad light (this tactic is discussed numerous times with examples in McVeigh defense attorney Stephen Jones’ book, “Others Unknown”).

Defenbaugh’s interview with the Dallas Morning News is also very revealing when he spoke of his close association with FBI Supervisory agent Mark White for tracking the FBI documents at the time of the OKC bombing investigation and even now.

At a Federal appeals hearing in Denver on July 7, 1999, the Nichols' defense attorney Michael Tigar presented evidence that the FBI agents under Defenbaugh and US Prosecutors falsified FBI 302 reports and deliberately did not create 302 reports in many cases as well as withheld FBI 302 reports from the court and the defense. Many of these 302s pertained to John Does in the case. Tigar also complained he was not given many FBI lead sheets used to generate 302 reports. Tigar formally complained again last week (May 2001)that he still has not received the FBI 302 reports he identified and asked for at the appeals hearing in July 1997.

One man mentioned in the appeals hearing transcripts as mishandling the FBI 302s was FBI agent Mark White who worked for Defenbaugh to provide FBI 302s to the prosecuting and defense attorneys. White also supervised FBI agent James Carlyle who generated hundreds of FBI 302s , many of which are strongly believed to have been falsified. How accurate were the FBI 302s Carlyle was to have written when he threatened me and my wife and the deputy sheriff Dave Korchendorfer in OKC about FBI foreknowledge of the OKC bombing? I spoke to Mark White on the phone on January 9, 1996 to complain about Carlyle’s threats and tactics.

Another indication that Defenbaugh has known about and helped cause the withholding and falsifying of FBI 302 reports pertaining to John Does is the revelation that FBI files about 2 possible Arab John Does arrested in Dallas were found in the Dallas FBI office where Defenbaugh is now the Special FBI agent in charge. This revelation was made even though Janet Reno and the FBI had for years denied any ME men had ever been arrested in the connection with the OKC bombing case. The revelation was made by Jack Douglas in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram article “ Dallas FBI files believed to detail 2 arrests” dated May 17, 2001. Excerpts from the article are as follows:

“The FBI files whose surprise disclosure sparked a delay of Timothy McVeigh's execution include Dallas FBI documents that are believed to contain details about the arrest of at least two people of Arab descent after the Oklahoma City bombing, a federal official said this week.”

“The federal government's inspector general's office is investigating the FBI's Dallas office, along with other FBI units around the country, to determine why more than 3,100 pages of investigative reports were not turned over until days before McVeigh was scheduled to be executed.”

Many of the Arab suspects in the OKC bombing and identified by KFORTV reporters in OKC were believed to have been operating out of Dallas and known to the Defenbaugh and to the FBI at least right after the bombing if not before. Also Defenbaugh’s FBI agents in OKC and in Dallas and US Prosecutors refused to accept the KFORTV reporter's evidence by claiming that to do so would help the defense (even though bombing suspects were involved who the FBI should have gone after).

In February 1999, the FBI in OKC acknowledged to an attorney representing a former reporter, that Middle Eastern suspects implicated in the OKC bombing were known to be operating out of a terrorist cell in Dallas. FBI director, Louis Freeh testified to Congress in May 1995 that the FBI had infiltrated a Middle Eastern terrorist cell in Dallas.

One of these two Arabs was a Pakistani, Asad Sidiqqy and he was implicated in the 1993 WTC bombing planned in OKC at a Hamas (Hamas cell in OKC is still not being acted against in 2002 by the FBI) sponsored terrorism conference in December 1992. The two Arab suspects (Pakistanis) mentioned in the Star-Telegram article had rented a blue vehicle and were the subject of an OKC PD manhunt in connection with the OKC bombing. They were detained at Dallas Ft Worth airport when they tried to return their rental car. They were released after an FBI agent working for Defenbaugh’s OKC Bomb Task Force in OKC, Floyd Zimms, deliberately gave out false information that the Arab suspects in OKC had been driving an old Green Cutlass rather than the blue vehicle actually driven by the Arab suspects and seen by witness Debbie Burdick in OKC.

Zimms told OKC PD officer Don Browning that Zimm’s description of the vehicle was false but that Browning and other police officers were not to question or talk about what Zimms had done that led to the release of the suspects.

The witness to the Pakistanis, Debbie Budick was called by FBI agent Odom from Denver to initmidate her not to talk to anyone about the Pakistanis she had seen with McVeigh after the bombing. And Defenbaugh's OKC FBI agents rewrote and altered the substance of several FBI 302 interview reports done with CIA counter terrorism chief Vincent Cannistraro about Pakistanis implicated in the OKC bombing. Cannistraro had told the FBI that the head of Saudi inteligence told Cannistraro on the day of the OKC bombing that Saddam Hussein of Iraq had hired seven Pakistanis to help do the OKC bombing.

On March 28, 2001, Defenbaugh gave a taped interview for CNN which was broadcast and later posted in excerpt form on CNN’s website under the title: ”FBI: McVeigh discussed other bombing targets.”

During the CNN interview Defenbaugh repeated the FBI’s public position that no John Does other than Terry Nichols helped McVeigh. He stated that the FBI based its conclusion that McVeigh acted alone on the FBI not seeing any John Does with McVeigh on a MacDonald’s surveillance video taken in Kansas shortly before McVeigh rented a Ryder truck.

In the CNN interview, Defenbaugh also made a startling admission: the FBI learned AFTER the bombing that McVeigh also intended to bomb Federal targets in Omaha and Dallas. There is strong evidence to show that Defenenbaugh and the FBI knew of the US government’s knowledge of plans to bomb these Federal targets months BEFORE the OKC bombing.

At least six months before the OKC bombing, Cary Gagan was given special immunity by US attorneys in Denver for providing the FBI detailed information that Federal targets in OKC, Denver, Omaha and Dallas were to be bombed around in April 1995. Dallas and Omaha were the same cities named by Defenbaugh that were also McVeigh’s targets. This is not a coincidence and suggests the FBI knew about and took Gagan’s information seriously BEFORE the OKC bombing.

The US attorneys revoked Gagan’s grant of immunity in retaliation for Gagan going public with his story. Gagan has sued the Federal government for revocation of his grant of immunity.

It is also significant that Defenbaugh mentioned Dallas as one of McVeigh’s targets in the CNN interview because Dallas has had major Middle Eastern AlQaeda and Hamas terrorist cells that has been linked to Bin Laden , to the 9/11/2001 attacks and to the OKC bombing.

Bin Laden’s secretary, El Hage, was arrested in Dallas and indicted for helping the FBI operative Ali Mohamed for over six years set up Bin Laden cells in Dallas and the US as well as for the bombings of the World Trade Center and the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Defenbaugh got in trouble two years ago for using Dallas police officers to track Bin Laden terrorists in Dallas and around the world without informing the Dallas police chief or compensating Dallas taxpayers for the police officers services.

. Defenbaugh started in 1998 (BEFORE the 9/11/2001 terror attacks) directing the FBI and Dallas police officers to follow and track known Middle Eastern terrorists associated with AlQaeda and Bin Laden (el Hage and Ali Mohammed) and the Dallas terrorist cells believed associated with the OKC bombing and the 9/11/2002 terror attacks on the Pentagon and WTC. In 1999 Defenbaugh had a public confrontation with the Dallas police chief, widely reported in Dallas media , over Defenbaugh using the police officers and Dallas taxpayers dollars without the chief’s permission and without telling the chief of the findings of his own police officers.

Defenbaugh’s technique of heavily using police officers for FBI investigations was employed by him in OKC with OKC police officers who were “deputized” by Defenbaugh to be part of his OKC Bombing Task Force. This is a clear example of the Federalization of local police forces. I know for certain about this because the relationship between the FBI and the OKC police criminal intelligence unit was described to me in my home on January 8, 1996 by Defenbaugh’s FBI agent, James Carlyle, and a member of the OKC police criminal intelligence unit. These men came to my house to threaten me and my wife over what we had learned of FBI foreknowledge and cover-up of the OKC bombing.

Defenbaugh and the FBI and DOJ have always been in curious agreement with McVeigh that only Nichols helped McVeigh. Defenbaugh and the DOJ and FBI have discounted hundreds of interviews his own FBI agents in OKC and around the country did with scores of witnesses who claimed McVeigh was helped by multiple domestic and Middle Eastern John Does. See my recent article “Significant McVeigh Contacts” posted on the FreeRepublic on March 28, 2001 which describes many of the John Doe contacts with McVeigh as well as government operatives and provocateurs involved in a failed FBI sting operation.

FBI agents under Defenbaugh threatened credible witnesses in OKC not to talk about seeing McVeigh with John Does including Army recruiters, and witnesses Debbie Burdick and Leah Moore. Deputy Sheriff Dave Kochendoerfer was threatened by an FBI agent working for Defenbaugh, a Mr. James Carlisle, over Kochendoerfer’s assertion that Congressman Istook had told him on April 19, 1995 the FBI knew beforehand of a Middle Eastern threat against the Murrah building and “ blew it.” In other cases Defenbaugh’s FBI agents deliberately did not have photos of John Doe suspects shown to witnesses and deliberately did not have sketches made of John Does from the witnesses descriptions.

I have also reported numerous times in articles on the FreeRepublic of witnesses in OKC who also saw domestic John Does at the Travelers Aid in OKC and connected to the OKC bombing who appear to be protected by the FBI and possibly FBI informants and operatives and provacateurs. Defenbaugh’s agents intimidated these witnesses, had not sketches made and wrote no adequate FBI 302 interview reports.

Defenbaugh’s FBI agents talked to witnesses who place McVeigh in OKC with John Does at 2:30 pm on April 18, 1995 in direct contradiction of the FBI and McVeigh assertions that the bomb was built in Kansas on April 18, 1995 by only McVeigh and Nichols.

Other witnesses in OKC known to Defenbaugh’s FBI agents claim they saw McVeigh being helped by Middle Eastern men to complete the bomb in OKC, and not in Kansas, on April 18, 1995. Defenbaugh’s FBI agents and US prosecutor Sean Connelly refused to receive, until almost four years after the bombing, more evidence on this collected from the witnesses by attorneys who went to the FBI and the prosecutor.

Defenbaugh also visited General Benton Partin in June 1996 with US prosecutor Beth Wilkinson to discuss Partin’s analysis of the cause of damage to the Murrah Building. During Defenbaugh’s interview, which was taped by Partin, Defenbaugh pointed to the location of what had been publicly shown as the truck bomb crater and said words to the effect : Suppose I were to tell you that is not the location of the bomb crater ? Defenbaugh and Wilkinson tried to belittle and disparage Partin’s credentials during the interview, actions which were extremely insulting and suggested a veiled attempt at intimidation to discourage Partin.

The legal counsels of the Senate Judiciary (Kolan Davis)and Intelligence (Joan Grimson) Committees have known of FBI massive cover-up in the OKC bombing case directly from the Pentagon terrorism advisor, Jesse Clear, who told them in December 1997 and in April 1999, respectively, of FBI cover-ups and intimidation of key John Doe witnesses. I was directly involved in Clear’s briefings to these legal counsels.

Furthermore, Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe has been aware at least since January 1999 of the FBI cover-ups of the ME connection and other John Does, foreign and domestic, from me personally in January 1999 as well as from information provided to his staff from Jesse Clear in 1997 and from Inhofe’s own Chief of staff Herb Johnson right after the OKC bombing.

In a story last year by Paul Bedard and posted on FreeRepublic, it has been reported that top pentagon officials told US News And World Report that the FBI had withheld evidence linking Middle eastern and Iraqi terrorists to the OKC bombing. This is not a surprise to me because that is what Pentagon terror advisor Jesse Clear told me in 1996 and what Clear told Kolan Davis of the Senate Judiciary in December 1997 in my presence.

And today we have former CIA counter terrorism official Larry Johnson stating that their was an Iraqi connection to the OKC bombing and that Ali Mohammed was in fact a double agent working for the FBI and Bin Laden and ALQaeda at the same time.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is to meet in full session Thursday March 21, 2002 at 10 am in Washington to hold a hearing of the FBI’s handling of evidence in the OKC bombing. It remains to be seen whether or not the Judiciary Committee will fully investigate the details this article presents about Danny Defenbaugh and the FBI’s handling of the OKC bombing. General Partin is to be in attendance and will give a full report on the hearing.

I have called visited and spoken to the Senate Judiciary’s staff members and investigators under Senators Orin Hatch and William Grassley for over seven years (including even just last week my complaining about FBI database manipulation) about the FBI misconduct in the OKC bombing and failed FBI policy of allowing known middle east terrorists into the US for years to follow them. So far the prevailing attitude among these staffers and investigators is “why are you trying to get the FBI in trouble?”. My response has always been and still is, why doesn’t the Senate Judiciary Senators and staff want to fully oversee and adequately fix corruption in the FBI known to the Judiciary for years from numerous sources including the Pentagon terror advisor Jesse Clear?

The Congress has been told about FBI failed policies by the FBI and the Congress never took action to correct these failures that contributed to the OKC bombing and to the 9/11 attacks. On March 3, 1995 members of the House of Representatives and Federal law enforcement were fully and officially and specifically alerted to a Middle Eastern assisted attack on the Murrah Federal Building in OKC in April 1995 by the Director of the House Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, Josef Bodansky, an expert on Bin Laden (Author of a book on Bin Laden).

FBI Director Louis Freeh testified before Congress in May 1995 after the OKC bombing that the FBI was following a policy of helping known Middle eastern terrorists enter the US on students visas (taking advantage of the weaknesses in the INS known to the FBI) so the FBI could follow them for years in the US. The FBI followed Ali Mohammed in the US and around the world from 1992 until 1998 while he worked for Bin Laden to set up AlQaeda terror cells in the US and helped in the 1993 WTC and Kenyan and Tanzanian bombings (may have helped in OKC bombing too). Yet former CIA counter terrorism official Larry Johnson told Congress last year that the FBI policy failed because the FBI also lost track of Ali Mohammed who the FBI knew all along was a double agent. These terrorist groups aided by the FBI for tracking purposes are now known to include Hamas, Abu Nidal and Alqaeda in the US.

The FBI policy of following known terrorists in the US for a long time as described by Freeh to Congress is still being practiced by the FBI and this is still known to Congressmen. A high level and veteran reporter and investigator for ABC at the Pentagon who knows Jesse Clear told me three weeks ago that he agreed with my assessment of the failed FBI policy of following ME terrorists for years when they commit terror acts like 9/11. The veteran ABC reporter called the FBI policy “stupid”.

Very informative reply #39 Black Jade.

By saying the FBI lost track of individuals like Atta I did not say that the US (CIA or others in the US intell community lost track ) of them. Conversely, when the CIA loses track of someone it does not mean that the FBI or someone else in US intell loses track of them.

And regardless of whether or not the FBI or CIA ever lost track of Atta, ALi Mohammed or Osama BIn Lden, they all knew to do something against them when they were tracking and in contact with their activities and they deliberately did nothing but help these guys. Heads should roll in the FBI and CIA for doing nothing when they could have and for bad policies even if they did lose track of the bad guys.

But also the officials in the US state department, DOJ and administrations (executive branch), Repub and Democrat, are ultimatley repsonsible for not having the FBI or CIA do something about ATTA, Mohammed and Bin LAden because they knew about their activitses for years and did not order the FBI or CIA to do anything about these guys. Heads should roll in the state department , the DOJ and the executive branch and among elected officials for bad policies and for deliberately letting these bad guys operate even if the CIA and FBI lost track of the bad guys.

But the Democrats will protect the Repubs and the Repubs will protect the Democrats for their allowing known ME terrorists into the US and to operate in the US for years when they did know where the bad guys were and what they were doing (in part at least)and also when they did lose track of the bad guys.

The Repubs and the Democrats administration officials, the DOJ, the FBI, the CIA , the state department set up the conditions for known terrorists to operate in the US without the US government being able to always know in detail what where and how the terrorists were operating.

If you say they knew at all times what the terrorists were doing and where they were, you give too much credit even to the FBI and CIA. But the FBI and CIA knew who they were and that they were out there (even when they lost track of the terrorists) and did nothing adequate enough to try to stop them as a matter of policy of the Repub and DEmocratic administrations and within CIA and FBI.

I am not trying to cut the FBI or CIA or officials in the Repub or Democratic administrations any slack on this or provide them with any easy excuses, believe me.

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